A Sydney schoolgirl who was mauled by lions in South Africa after a park ranger led her into their enclosure has described hearing "lions' teeth crunching" on her head and the desperate screams of her parents as they watched the attack unfold.
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Neha's father, Raghwa Sharma, a surgical pathologist at Westmead Hospital and associate professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Western Sydney, said the ranger unlocked the lion's enclosure intentionally and without warning, and invited the family to enter. He said the cage measured about five by 15 metres.
"I thought he was just taking us closer to the cage
No way would I think somebody would open the cage door," Dr Sharma said.
"But as soon as he reaches there, he unlocks it and says: 'Come in, into the cage.' "
Neha was walking several paces ahead. Within moments, Neha and the ranger had walked inside the cage, "probably five steps, six steps inside", Dr Sharma said.
By the time he had reached the cage and pulled his wife back, the lionesses had already encircled the pair, cutting them off from both Dr Sharma and his wife, and the cage door. Then they attacked.
"All hell broke loose. The lions are mauling my daughter. What can you do? You yell. You shout. There's no back-up," Dr Sharma said.
"The reception people are a good 300 metres away. Nobody listens, there's no neighbours, nothing. There's nothing for you. There's nothing left. We thought we were all going to die."
In a letter written with the encouragement of her counsellor, the schoolgirl described her excitement about the trip and her delight at being able to play with lion cubs at the lodge, before turning to the moment she was attacked.
"I'm 15 years old and have survived mauling by lions in a cage which was opened by the ranger," Neha wrote.
"The lions were as tall as me and attacked my head
I could hear lions' teeth crunching on my head and biting my arms and chest. While I was passing out I could hear mum and dad screaming for help."
The ranger pretended to be dead when the pair were attacked and did nothing to help the family, Dr Sharma said.
He said his daughter regained consciousness and was able to fight off the lions and flee the enclosure, although Neha has no recollection of this.
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